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Vegetable and Lentil Pie

Vegetable and Lentil Pie with Cheesy Lemon Crust

Lentils add a flavour and texture boost to this pie, and the sweet-potato cheesey-baked topping is undoubtedly the best bit!

Great for cold wintery nights, this pie can be stuffed with as many veges as you want. This is another dish with lots of ingredients – but they are all standard pantry fare and once chopped up it is just a matter of throwing them in a pie dish and then baking the whole lot together, easy!

In a large saucepan, put the potatoes and half the sweet potato on to boil in salted water until very soft. Drain off the water from the spuds and keep about half a cup to add to the pie. Set aside the potatoes to make the pie topping.

In another pan, warm through the spices and dried herbs, then add the onions and garlic and fry off in a little oil until they are just starting to brown.Add the tomato paste, and cook down well then add the lentils and all the remaining vegetables (not the potatoes, they are for the topping!) and cook down with a little extra stock or even some wine if needed to make a thick rich sauce.Add the fresh herbs and leave to simmer until the carrots are tender.

To make the topping:Add the egg, salt, garlic clove, and lemon juice and zest and half the grated cheese to the cooked potato and sweet potato. Mash into the thick smooth paste – try not to add any extra liquids or it will not brown well.

Add the pie filling to the base of a large pie dish. The filling should be substantial vege chunks and not too much liquid. Add the pie topping to the filling, scratching over with a fork to make lovely crusty peaks.Sprinkle over a little extra black pepper, rosemary and finish off with the remaining cheese.

Bake in a moderately hot oven for about 35 minutes, or until the top is brown and bubbling.Serve with a light salad, green beans or peas and some crusty bread.